Bits to Atoms

What do they actually do

Bits to Atoms is a recruiting service and jobs site focused on deep‑technology startups. They match engineers and scientists to roles in areas like biotech, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and defense. Practically, they combine a public job board with hands‑on sourcing and shortlists for hiring teams to speed up hard‑to‑fill searches (YC, site, jobs site).

For employers, they take open roles and deliver vetted candidates; for candidates, they surface mission‑driven roles that require niche skills. Their LinkedIn positioning emphasizes placements into manufacturing and other deep‑tech startups, and their jobs board shows live openings for specific companies (e.g., Hybron) with clear requirements and pay bands where available (LinkedIn, Hybron listings).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Founders/CTOs at early‑stage deep‑tech startups (biotech, robotics, advanced manufacturing, defense): They struggle to find engineers or scientists who mix deep domain expertise with startup execution, so searches drag and product/fundraising milestones slip.
• Recruiting or hiring managers at small deep‑tech teams without a full TA function: They lack a reliable pipeline and ways to evaluate rare technical skills, so sourcing and vetting consume core team time for weeks or months.
• Technical candidates (PhDs, research scientists, senior engineers) seeking mission‑driven roles: General job boards don’t surface roles that match narrow skillsets or show real technical depth, leading to many poor‑fit applications and wasted time.
• Talent partners or VC portfolio talent leads supporting multiple startups: They need a steady stream of vetted, niche candidates so portfolio companies can make critical hires quickly and avoid product delays.
• Product/operations leads hiring cross‑discipline engineers (hardware+software, lab+factory): Many candidates lack practical systems or manufacturing experience, causing long onboarding, rework, and missed production milestones.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Leverage YC and warm network intros to run low‑risk pilots (contingency or short retained trials) and convert inbound from the jobs site into paid shortlist deliveries; supplement with targeted LinkedIn outreach to founders/CTOs and one "hire day" to prove speed and fit (YC, LinkedIn, jobs).
• First 50: Use early case studies to scale outbound to deep‑tech founders and portfolio talent leads, place posts on niche forums/newsletters, and sell a per‑shortlist product with interview kits and replacement guarantees; expand lightweight events (workshops/meetups) and referral incentives to drive warm leads.
• First 100: Productize into subscriptions/retainers with SLAs and a simple employer dashboard; embed short recruiting sprints, license screening tests, and build VC/university/incubator partnerships while spinning up vertical specialist pods (biotech/robotics/manufacturing) to lift close rates.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Employer spend on external recruiting for early‑stage deep‑tech startups is roughly $1.0B–$6.7B annually worldwide, based on an estimated 21,624 seed/Series A deep‑tech companies and standard placement fee ranges on typical engineer salaries (Tracxn, recruiter fees, salary benchmarks).

Bottom-up calculation:

Mid case: 21,624 companies × 5 hires/year × $131k avg salary × 20% fee ≈ $2.83B/year; low and high bounds come from 3–8 hires/year, $108k–$154k salaries, and 15%–25% fees (hiring patterns, fees, salaries).

Assumptions:

• Deep‑tech seed/Series A count approximated from Tracxn’s funded company breakdown (source).
• Placement fees 15%–25% and salaries $108k–$154k reflect common U.S. benchmarks; actuals vary by geo/domain (fees, salaries).
• Early‑stage hiring volume estimated at 3–8 technical hires per year for agency‑served teams (hiring patterns).

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Wellfound (AngelList): Large, general startup jobs marketplace with hardware/deep‑tech listings; strong reach but broad signals often yield many poor fits for highly specialized roles.
• TrueUp: Jobs site and talent marketplace focused on hardware/deep‑tech startups; good aggregation of openings but primarily a jobs board rather than end‑to‑end vetting.
• Stax Talent: Boutique recruiting firm specializing in deep‑tech/greentech/robotics/defense; high‑touch curated searches with executive‑style fees and timelines.
• DeepRec.ai: Recruitment specialist for deep‑tech AI/ML and embedded engineering; strong subject‑matter sourcing but narrower scope than a broad deep‑tech marketplace.
• Rocket: Startup‑focused recruiting agency that sources and vets engineers end‑to‑end, competing on speed and recruiter expertise with traditional agency pricing.